Sony Open 2013: Laura Robson turns on the style as she and new doubles partner Lisa Raymond blitz into final

Laura Robson and Lisa Raymond both say that they hope to continue their
red-hot doubles partnership, which surely makes sense after they stormed
into Sunday’s Sony Open final with a 58-minute destruction of the world’s
top-ranked pair.

Wildcard entry: Lisa Raymond and Laura Robson prepare to embrace after defeating Italian pairing Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in 58 minutes to reach the final of the Sony Open women's doubles in MiamiPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Robson can rarely have played better, in any format. From first game to last, she pounded the ball with such venom that the No 1 seeds, Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, were simply blown off the court, going down 6-1, 6-2. “You guys all saw that there’s a future champion here today,” said Raymond, in her on-court interview. “Laura was unbelievable.”

So Robson is into her first final at a Masters event. Given the choice, she would probably have gone for singles rather than doubles, but there is no doubt that she enjoys the relative lack of pressure that comes with playing as part of a team.

“Serving out the match today I didn’t feel any nerves,” she said. “I was just having a lot of fun on court, enjoying myself and going for everything. One of the reasons I like playing doubles is that I can just pick where I want to hit the ball and go for it, whereas in singles you have to think a bit more.”

Both women are clearly revelling in their new partnership, which offers up a contrast of Robson’s power from the baseline and Raymond’s supreme volleying skills. “Against that team today, I haven’t come close to winning a set in a year,” said Raymond, who has 11 grand slam doubles titles to her name. “For us to go out there and play that well against them felt great.”

While the Italians walked out in matching outfits, looking like twins, Robson and Raymond – or “Team Robmond”, as they have decided to call themselves – opted for all-white and all-black respectively.

The contrast matched the unusual gap in their ages. “Does everyone in here know the stat that Lisa first played this tournament the year I was born?” asked Robson, 19, mischievously, after their victory in the quarter-finals.

These two only came together as a wild-card pairing the day before the first round, when Raymond’s intended partner, Sam Stosur, pulled a calf muscle. They share the same management company, Octagon, who recommended they pair up. For Robson, though, it was an unfamiliar experience.

“I’ve obviously been on the doubles court before,” explained Robson, who has a silver medal from the mixed event at last year’s Olympics. “But it’s very different playing with a doubles specialist compared to another singles player. She’s the most experienced partner I’ve had, and when we practised together for the first time, I was basically like ‘Where do I stand, where do I hit?’ ”

When the players began their warm-up yesterday, Robson could not help feeling out of place – the spare wheel among these three grand slam champions. “We were about to start serving,” she said, “and the announcer is going, ‘Errani, No 1 in the world in doubles. Vinci, No 1 in the world in doubles. Lisa, former No 1 in the world in doubles. Laura, whose current ranking is 280.’

“He’s struggling to come up with stuff and he’s come up with [the fact] that Heather and I made the final of last year. We didn’t even win it! I was waiting for him to mention the silver medal so that I didn’t feel so bad about myself, but he left it till the end.”

The irony is that, once the match started, Robson was the most influential player. For the most part, she preferred to hang back and unleash huge power off both wings from the baseline. But she also produced some excellent volleys and demonstrated that her net-play has improved out of all recognition since she started working with Raymond, who will be 40 in the autumn. “In general the style they play suited us,” said Robson. “We were both hitting it cleanly and it was one of those good days.”

Robson’s doubles ranking will now climb to around 90, and will go even higher if she and Raymond can win tomorrow’s final. It is still not high enough for them to qualify together for other Masters tournaments. But then, as Raymond joked yesterday, “Don’t worry, I have an unlimited supply of wild cards.”